Asian Session Forex Recap – Mar. 30, 2016

Article Highlights

Japan’s preliminary industrial production down by 6.2% vs. 5.8% decline expected, 3.7% uptick in January

Partner CenterFind a Broker

Trading volatility was as tight as my pants during the Asian session, as a lack of catalysts forced forex traders to turn to yesterday’s events for direction.

Major Events:

Japan’s weak industrial production numbers – The Land of the Rising Sun caused concern among investors when it printed its preliminary industrial production numbers.

The data clocked in a 6.2% decline for the month of February, its weakest since the Fukushima earthquake back in March 2011. Analysts were only expecting a 5.9% decline after January’s 3.7% uptick.

Word around the hood is that a steel mill explosion and weak domestic and Chinese demand had all weighed on Japan’s production numbers. Will this be enough to nudge the Bank of Japan (BOJ) into unleashing more stimulus?

Yellen speech hangover – With not much data on the docket, most Asian session forex traders just extended the dollar-bearish tone from the U.S. session. If you recall, Janet Yellen squashed hopes of the interest rate junkies when she preached caution on tightening monetary policy.

Nikkei wasn’t happy with the yen strength that resulted in the dollar weakness but China’s Shanghai index is up by 1.44%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up by 1.40%, an Australia’s ASX ticked 0.07% higher.

Major Currency Movers:

USD – The Greenback lost a couple more pips to its counterparts with USD/JPY falling by another 15 pips (-0.13%) and USD/CAD jumping by another 16 pips (+0.12%).

JPY – Yesterday’s yen strength as well as weak data from Japan inspired another green session for the low-yielding yen.

Every day, I will present to you my findings and daily commentaries on what recently happened in the economic arena, possible shifts in sentiment, economic events to watch out for, and their effects on currencies.

We introduce people to the world of currency trading, and provide educational content to help them learn how to become profitable traders. We're also a community of traders that support each other on our daily trading journey.